


Gracious Lady in Distress

by Ramzes



Series: The Silver Dragon and the Faded Sun [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: Elia Fests, Multi, Parody, being the nice man he is he didn't force himself on her, elia and arthur were a thing before rhaegar, rhaegar actively covering up for arthur and elia, rhaegar and elia's wedding night, rhaegar knows true love when he sees it, rhaegar never sleeps with elia because what a man does such a thing to his best friend, so who is he to interfere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:36:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramzes/pseuds/Ramzes
Summary: Elia Martell has all the qualities needed in a queen. She only lacks the purity of a new bride. Fortunately, Rhaegar is all undestanding.





	1. Chapter 1

The Prince’s bride was so beautiful that the crowds in King’s Landing chanted her name for hours. The roar of, “Long live Elia! Long live the bride!” made Queen Rhaella smile nostalgically. Rhaegar dearly hoped that his father, shutting himself off in the Red Keep, did not hear then because no one could say for sure what would happen if he did – and given the way he was, Rhaegar was rather convinced that he’d rather not find out.

It looked that the entire King’s Landing had gone off in the streets to celebrate and drink the wine that poured freely from all the fountains. Elia Martell had added a great sum into the free food for the beggars to make them feel included and Rhaegar was glad that she had charitability, a characteristic important in a queen.

She was so beautiful that the only words old crones and disgruntled ladies from the Reach could find to insult her were, “flat-chested” and “black-eyed”. Undoubtedly, the way the men from the Reach looked at her, mesmerized, did not improve the ladies’ attitude.

In their not so short acquaintance, Rhaegar had already found out that the last word that could describe his new bride was “stupid”, so he had no doubt that she knew about the whispers, yet she accepted these women’s well-wishes with the same smile as she did everyone else’s.

Grace was another quality valued in a queen. Rhaegar was even more impressed when his bride discreetly left the high table and when she returned, her cheeks and lips had an additional layer of healthy red glow which would mask the horror and feeling of humiliation that would accompany the ceremony of bedding. The future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms would not show those who would be her subjects that a long-time ceremony could make her uncomfortable – or make some of them feel uncomfortable for her.

“By the Seven, she looks like a good choice,” his father said from his seat. The way his eyes stayed on Elia’s lips was bordering on offensive – in fact, if it had been anyone else, Rhaegar would have demanded an apology. But Elia handled even this with grace and reason that many older women would envy: she smiled, uttered a thank you and then turned to Rhaegar, leaving Aerys with only the sight of her hair. Of course, it was hard to leer at hair.

She was so beautiful that Rhaegar felt a pain for what might have been, the life they might have had. _It was forced on her as well,_ he tried to remind himself but no matter what, the feeling of being cheated was so powerful that it choked him, made him feel resentment for both the lady and the knight.

Elia of Dorne had all the qualities a queen needed, except for one, and as Rhaegar stared at her bent head in the finally come silence of their bridal chamber, he realized just how much this one mattered. It was the quality that would have made today’s wedding a real one…

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, noticing the way Elia was shaking, and he berated himself for not telling her earlier. But when could he have? They had not had a moment alone since her arrival.

There was some noise at the door and both Rhaegar and Elia looked this way. “Arthur is going to deal with the pesters,” he assured her. Unfortunately, it only made her blanch more.  “I didn’t… I won’t…” he tried to explain, the sight of her increasing fear making him clumsier by the moment. “I won’t take any liberties, my lady,” he finally said, looking somewhere left of her because this was the only way he could form a sentence. “I know your… affections lie elsewhere. Arthur told me before our betrothal was announced.”

“Will you give me away?” she asked in a small voice.

He shook his head. “Why would I do such a thing? If I wanted to dishonour you, I would have simply refused the betrothal or the wedding, citing your lack of maidenhead as a reason.”

She shuddered to hear it said aloud and Rhaegar wondered what she had _thought_ she and Arthur had done. If love was a madness like this, he wanted nothing to do with it. Still, the idea of forgetting everything and everyone to such extent fascinated him, in a strange painful way.

“What are we going to do now?” Elia finally asked.  The fear in her eyes had yet to dissipate. She looked like the damsel in distress waiting for a brave knight to save her, yet she lacked the purity of a maiden and her knight was a soiled one. Still, in a strange way he had saved her from the horror that another man’s caresses would be to her.

“ _We_ aren’t going to do anything,” Rhaegar asked tiredly. “And _tonight_ , you and Arthur won’t be doing anything either.”

Her eyes flashed a quick gratitude. She had understood. Oh, she was a clever one, this lady wife in name of his. She impulsively reached out, took his hand, and kissed it.

Moved and somewhat envious, Rhaegar silently released it.

 


	2. Chapter 2

In the beginning, Rhaegar had imagined that the three of them would be best friends and each one’s supporters,. That in Elia, he would find another mind, as sharp and devoted to helping him help everyone as Arthur. That with the happiness those two shared, as hidden as it was, Dragonstone would part with its grim air of doom and make Rhaegar’s own life more joyous. And all of this did happen – but Rhaegar had failed to foresee all the ways in which he would be excluded. Oh, they were not doing it on purpose and he’d never think that they were. But be that as it may, the smiles they exchanged when the three of them were sitting in the library with its constantly lit torches, for the pouring of daylight here was never strong enough, he was not invited to take part in the intimacy they shared; when they rose to go to the evening feast, it was always Arthur who helped Elia stand up and led her to the door, parting with her hand at the threshold in Rhaegar’s favour only very reluctantly. The way Elia strained her hearing each time she heard steps at the other side of the door, only for her smile to die when she saw it was her husband there, was painful for Rhaegar to watch because he knew it was not him that she longed for with such force. It was not that Rhaegar wanted Elia – he did not, she belonged to Arthur, - but he wanted to have someone like her.  And as Elia was knocking at the Stranger’s door persistently as her body fought to do what it had been created for and failed, Arthur had gone so mad with worry that had Rhaegar not led him away, he would have surely revealed everything just with his behavior. Of course, this led people to believe that Rhaegar was a man of no sensitivity who couldn’t be bothered to stand before the birthing chamber and await news, as any other husband would have done. Not that it truly mattered but Rhaegar had to admit that it stung his pride.

The next blow came when he announced his intentions, or part thereof.

“Going to King’s Landing?” Arthur asked incredulously. “Now?”

“I need to present my daughter to court,” Rhaegar replied and felt relieved when Arthur’s expression did not change. Lately, their silent agreement had become too overwhelming for his friend.

“But Elia – Elia cannot travel!” Arthur exclaimed. “She’s on bedrest! You will be placing her in serious danger if…” He checked himself. “I apologize,” he said stiffly.

“It’s fine,” Rhaegar said, not quite sincerely. He was not sure that he liked this Arthur. The man he had tried to be fair to, his best friend, was turning into someone else. Someone who belonged to Elia. Bitterness choked him, although he knew how unfair it was. These two just loved each other, and still… still he decided that it would do Arthur some good to steam some more before getting to know that Rhaegar had no intention to cut Elia’s bedrest short.

But the worst was yet to come. As his father announced that Rhaenys smelled Dornish, Rhaegar felt, just for a moment, the terrible feeling that Aerys knew, that he had come to know somehow. Then, he turned his head ever so slightly to look at Arthur and gave him a warning look – because Arthur’s hand was already stealing towards his back and Dawn.  It was stealing towards Dawn!

“What do you think you were doing?” Rhaegar demanded angrily as soon as they were away from Varys’ many ears – which happened to be aboard the ship that would return them to Dragonstone.

To his credit, Arthur did not feign ignorance. “I wasn’t going to do it,” he said awkwardly. “I’m sorry. It’s just… when I heard him say this,, I didn’t think.”

“This much is obvious,,” Rhaegar said coldly. “And you were about to all but declare that yes, Rhaenys was fully Dornish.”

He felt some ugly satisfaction when Arthur cringed at the name. But naming this child after the Queen who had died trying to conquer Dorne had been the least they could have done for Rhaegar., so they had let him have this petty revenge.

“I’m sorry,,” Arthur said again.

Rhaegar sighed as they both clung to the nailed bunks when the ship swayed. “I know you are,. But you should be careful, Arthur. Both you and her.”

“We will be,” Arthur promised but Rhaegar did not quite believe him. They were incapable of restraining themselves. If he did not take the matter into his own hands, they’d drag him along when they destroyed themselves.

“You’d better,” Rhaegar warned grimly and left, cursing the generosity that had landed him in this situation. He should have never agreed to this arrange,ment. He had done it for Arthur’s sake – but Elia’s Arthur was someone Rhaegar could not like this much and he could not trust him at all. Once again, he’d be the one responsible for everything. Oh, the irony!

He left silently, crossing quickly past the cabin of the babe and her wetnurse because Rhaenys was howling at the top of her lugs. He did not mind babes, he truly did not, but he had had enough of this one last week. Pretending to be her father had turned out to be harder that he had anticipated.


	3. Chapter 3

“Why didn’t you wed her?”

Arthur pretended not to hear. But Rhaegar was not about to be dissuaded. “Why?”

“Why do you want to know?”

Rhaegar just stared.  Arthur firing back. Arthur refusing to answer a question of his.

This was the first time such a thing happened.

“Because I do,” he said and Arthur flushed, yet kept hesitating.

 _It must be because of their quarrel_ , Rhaegar thought. He was not used to see the two of them on bad terms but it had already been three days  since Arthur had entered Elia’s chambers and both of them looked terribly unhappy. Anger had been rising in Rhaegar, slowly but steadily. It felt disrespectful of them to show so blatantly how miserable the other one could make them and he did feel a certain guilty pleasure to anger Arthur, being unable to do so with Elia who was still on bedrest.

“Because it was never a matter of marriage,” Arthur finally said.

“Because you wanted to become a famed knight?”

The Kinsguard shook his head. “No. I did want to gain fame but it was clear from the very beginning that there would be no marriage. She was meant for a political match and I did not fit. We never entertained the notion, I think.”

Rhaegar was aghast. He had thought Elia and, to a lesser extent, Arthur had just been victims to a fate that was stronger than them. That they might have had a physical relationship without even believing that one day, they would wed was unbearable to him. _What kind of woman am I going to make Queen,_ he wondered and felt even lonelier. But still, even if it had started off as mere lust, it was more than this now. It was love, he could see this and he was grateful that he did not feel it for Elia. Her passion for Arthur was hard enough to bear as it was – he could only imagine what it would have been like if he had fallen in love with her!

Still, he could not deny that she was very helpful to him. Even from her bed, she managed to forge ties and win sympathies that would have been unavailable to him otherwise. He could win admirations but his Dornish lady wife could win hearts, with the mere use of her pen and a few well-chosen presents _. It always starts with women_ , Rhaegar realized, stunned, when people started visiting Dragonstone on Elia’s invitation, things somehow arranged between her and their womenfolk. Carried to her solar for the occasion and reclining on a daybed, she looked very radiant, witty, and charming, always knowing what to say and how to help him, so he could look friendly as well. This was of great importance and Rhaegar was not sorry that he had wed her. He only wished she loved someone else and not Arthur. Someone who was far away.

Sometimes, he wished that she loved _him_ instead. From time to time, he thought that he could start loving her if she did. By the Seven, was he pathetic! Being ready to fall in love with the first woman of charm who would love him and not his station.

Well, he did not have time for love. Not now. His father was getting worse, the realm desperately needed a change and he was no closer to finding the other two heads of the dragon than he had ever been. What was new, really? He had always been alone. For a while, Arthur had been his friend before Elia stole him, as inadvertently as it was.  Rhaegar wanted to grab him by the shoulders and give him a hard shake. Arthur was dangerously close to breaking the one vow that mattered. Other Kingsguard had kept mistresses but they had observed their primary oath, they had placed the King first. Rhaegar wondered with the bitterness of trust betrayed what would happen if Elia would croon in Arthur’s ear that she wanted to spend the night with him, wasting no time on informing Rhaegar.At first,  Arthur would refuse but then, he would leave Rhaegar’s door unguarded without bothering to tell him in advance. Dornish lust burned in his veins, turning him into a slave of his impulses, his flesh, his passion for Elia. Rhaegar felt guilty for placing him in this position, wanted to save him but how? Each time he resolved to order them to put an end to their illicit affair, pity would seize him by the throat. Whatever their past, they did love each other now. He had brought them together, given his permission, closed his eyes. He was also responsible, in a way. Besides, there was the sad realization that they couldn’t stop. They had gone too far. They could only lie to him and keep going which would make him feel not a generous man but a very foolish one.

More foolish than he already felt for still wanting love like theirs. Such a love would be his salvation from his duty, his destiny of a prophesied savior, his…

Sighing, he rose and headed for Elia’s chambers to talk to her about a letter he wanted her to send. And stopped dead in his tracks.

His lady wife, still on bedrest after a childbirth, was busy getting reconciled with Arthur in the sweetest way possible. She was too focused on her lover to notice her husband but Rhaegar could see the tears of relief and affection leaving salty streaks on her cheeks  - and the other streaks, the ones that, in the light of the comet shining through the open windows, made the bed look like a murder was being committed there. The lacerations Elia was still treating had gone open again, bleeding copiously.

Staring at them, Rhaegar finally realized that the saying about love causing hurt and pain could be true in the simplest sense of the word.  And the feeling of relief that washed upon him was so abundant that it almost made his knees bend.

Arthur was a Dayne, with some Targaryen blood running through his veins. And there was a comet in the sky. A bleeding star.

Perhaps the prophecy wasn’t about Rhaegar, after all. Perhaps he could break free – and seek some love and life of his own.


End file.
